A Hetalia Christmas Carol
by Ahai
Summary: A Hetalia version of the story by Charles Dickens " A Christmas Carol". Austria is a selfish miser who does not care about Christmas or others. That will change, but how?
1. The miser

The happiest time of the year arrived once again. The streets were illuminated by the fallen frozen crystals from the sky and children, along with their families, sang jolly songs to spread the holiday atmosphere all around as they rang their bells. The streets were crowded by the people who were shopping and getting everything ready for Christmas. Some were running late getting presents but there were also many who finished doing that early this month. Even those who did not have to shop anymore came to the busy streets simply to experience the holiday spirit along with all the others before they were to be with their family only. The sound of carols and people wishing others a Merry Christmas, the smell of newly baked gingerbread and cakes, the sight of all the happy colours was welcoming for one and all and spread the Christmas spirit to the people both on the inside and the outside.

However, there was one in particular who was infamous of being stern all the time. No one ever saw a smile from him, and the way he was would never deserve a smile. The people, his people to be precise, and the foreign neightbours knew what a miser he was. His name was Roderich Edelstein, known as the personification of Austria. He was not much kinder before and after this time of year, but Christmas clearly showed his unkindness.

On his way home from his music office, he went through the merry streets. He did not look at anyone and his body language pushed away everybody on his way.

"Herr Austria?"

Austria kept on walking, pretending he did not hear the ones who called his name. The ones who called for him kept on doing that as Austria kept on ignoring them. One made a bold move by jumping in front of Austria, stopping him.

"Ja, what do you want?" Austria was clearly annoyed by being stopped.

Two men greeted him. The one who stopped him was a tall and skinny man and the other one was a small and chubby man. Those two were dressed classy, the tall and thin one was smoking a pipe and the little and chubby one held on to a clinking jar.

"We provide to the poor, sir. Care to give something so we can offer the poor a Merry Christmas?" The skinny asked as little chubby one raised the jar up in front of Austria.

Donators... Those pests were bothersome all year long! Instead of giving the poor money, the poor could work instead of pleading to others like stray dogs whining for food. Austria had no intention of helping anyone by giving away some of his money, he had seen and heard rumours of homeless people spending their undeserved earnings on drugs.

"Time is money, and I dont have any time for you or the poor" Austria said as he walked away, shrugging off the donators pleading and sad expressions.

"

"There you are, Austria!" Hungary exclaimed.

Hungary, her name Elizaveta Hedervary, was Austria`s wife. Normally a wife should not have to refer her husband so formally, but their relationship had been unsteady for a long time. There were no romance between the two of them, the marriage was all just for politics and their bosses arranged it for an alliance. In the beginning their marriage was alright, Hungary developed feelings for him. However, now she was not sure if she hated him for being the person he has become during all these years, or if she actually still loved him.

"What do you mean, Hungary? You know exacly where I have been, where else am I supposed to be?" Austria said.

"But Austria... Now that the politics are at rest for Christmas, do you really have to be working on your music profession?" Hungary asked as a sigh came afterwards.

"Why, of course I do. Now that I do not have to worry about politics, I can now focus and work hard on other things that matters" Austria looked around.

"Where is Italy?"

After Austria asked the question, quick steps were heard and they got louder and louder. When the steps was on its loudest, puffs were heard as well and when the sounds of steps stopped the maid, Italy, arrived next to Austria.

"Here I am, Austria sir" Italy said, completely out of breath.

"

 _Although Italy was a young man, he wore a typical maids uniform. Italy had been working as a maid for Austria ever since he was a young boy, aged 6. When Italy was that young it was no official employment, Austria did not want to be arrested for child labour and neither did he have the conscience of such during that time. Italy wanted to earn a little pocket money, so he asked if Austria would be kind to let him do a little in return for a bit payment. Before Austria could come up with the decision all on his own, Hungary said he should let this little cutie work by doing simple tasks and come to the mansion sometimes. Austria agreed. He thought it was a good idea to let the child work a little so he could learn how it was like being an adult working for payment. Italy did small jobs such as removing weeds, doing dishes, taking out the garbage and so on. Hungary insisted on Italy wearing a maids uniform since it would make him look even cuter. Italy had no problem wearing a maid uniform and he was shown to be a hard worker which pleased Austria._

 _As the years passed by Italy got more work he could do as he grew up. Austria and Hungary then found out Italy was a boy when he hit puberty as his voice cracked into a deeper tone while he was singing while working. Hungary thought it was an intruder and almost hit Italy when she hid in a corner. After the shock of learning Italy`s true gender, Austria wanted Italy to quit wearing the maid uniform. Hungary managed to convince Austria into let Italy keep wearing the maid uniform and she was willing to buy new uniforms as Italy grew bigger._

 _Austria could not remember how Hungary managed to convince him back then, but he got used to it and started to like it when he became more selfish and thought it was a perfect attire for "a desperate worker". Italy officially became their maid when he grew up to the legal age. It got worse for Italy then as he worked almost all day, earning a small amout of money. Hungary had told Austria tremendous times how awful he had turned towards poor Italy, but her convincing did not work anymore. Austria turned into the infamous miser._

"

"Why are you so filthy, Italy? Don`t you dare get any spots on my coat!" Austria said as Italy took the coat of him.

"I was cleaning the fireplace, sir. I thought it would be important to see if there was something blocking the pipe and clean it so Santa Claus wouldn`t get dirty."

Austria snorted.

"Santa Claus? You are not a child, Italy! There is no thing such as Santa Claus, and Christmas is all just humbug!" Austria yelled at him.

Italy got teary eyed. That was a rare sight to see, one barely ever saw Italy`s eyes. Italy was usually looking down either because he was concentrated on his work, looking at an item, or at what and where he was cleaning. And also he was a naturally shy young man who did not want to look into someones eyes, especially not into Austria`s. Now Italy had his golden-brown eyes looking at Austria with sadness.

"Don`t just stand there moping, Italy! Go and do proper work!" Austria yelled at Italy again.

"Yes, sir" Italy made a sob and turned around, slowly on his way to now do "proper work".

Hungary looked at Austria with eyes that could be set on fire any moment. Austria shuddered even though his back was turned to Hungary. He did not even need to see her to know she was giving him such a glare.

"How can you talk to Italy like that ?!" Hungary yelled to Austria.

"Italy is a grown up, Hungary. He should not be so naive about such things, his only task here is to work" Austria said and turned around.

The flare in Hungary`s eyes were extinguished as Austria looked at her indifferently. Hungary mirrored Austria`s look.

"Have it your way, Austria. I don`t want to see you anymore tonight, neither do I want to talk to you" Hungary said in a cool tone and walked away.

"

Hungary stepped in to the living room to check on Italy. Italy was sweeping the floor with a devestated expression on his face. Hungary could tell he was on the verge of crying, but he did not. It reminded her of a drop from the faucet being near to drip out, but was stuck on its place. Hungary embraced Italy from behind.

"I am so sorry, Italy... Are you alright?" Hungary asked, now with her cool façade being completely replaced with sadness.

"I`ll be fine... Nothing can break my beliefs, not even Herr Austria"

Hungary let go of Italy as he was seaching in one of his pockets. He took out a piece of paper he unfolded and the paper increased its lenght.

"This is the list of what I want for Christmas. It is selfish to want things, I know. I believe and hope Santa Claus will give me at least one of these things. I know I won`t get any of this from my family and I can`t buy gifts for myself since I won`t get it in surprise and I must use the little I earn for my family..." Italy looked down on the floor.

"Oh, Italy..." Hungary said.

Italy turned his look from the floor to Hungary, smiling as cheerfully as he could. The smile was there, but it was clearly not a genuine one.

"What do you wish for Christmas, Lady Hungary?" Italy asked.

Hungary also put on a fake, cheerful smile.

" My home will not have Christmas decorations, nor Christmas tree with presents under it, nor glitter or lively colours, nor gingerbread and Austria will not play any Christmas songs for us to sing together... I wish I could get it all this year and every Christmas in the future... But I will not get it, and i won`t get _him_ back..." Hungary lost her fake smile completely and the true sad expression came.

"That is a wonderful wish, I would love to give it all to you if I could" Italy said.

Hungary petted Italy`s cheek.

"You are so wonderful, Italy. Even with all this, you are still so kind" Hungary said.

"

Austria listened to the whole conversation in the hallway where he was still standing. He frowned.

"All this whining for this insignificant holiday... Bah, humbug!"


	2. The warning

Hungary kept her word, Austria did not see her for the rest of the evening. After this "pathetic" conversation with Italy, she went up to her room. Yes, it was her room, not theirs. Because of their lack of romance and the two of them living in a mansion, they had a room each for themselves. Austria hated things being wasted or left out to get covered with dust, so it was all good they both had a room for them to use. Austria always claimed he did not want to share a bed with Hungary, and he never told her why. Hungary seemed hurt when Austria did not tell her why that time, but Austria did not understand why she fussed about it...

"

Austria sat on the sofa and read the newspaper. Italy was still in the mansion, doing housework. But that was done slower than usual, the pace was at its lowest. Italy seemed to be in his own world, it had to be something on his mind he wanted to let out. Austria noticed.

"What is it with you, Italy? Don`t slack off just because your work hour is almost done!" Austria told Italy sternly.

"I-I-I... It is not what I am doing...N-n-not on purpose at least..."Italy stammered.

"Then what are you doing? What do you want?!"

"It is Christmas tomorrow and I was wondering...if I...could have... Half a day off?" Italy departed his sentence little by little as he got quieter and quieter.

Austria was near yelling at Italy for coming with such a foolish request. But he made it just in time and Austria stopped to think for a moment.

"I suppose you can, but I will deduct half a day of your salary"

Geniue happiness returned to Italy`s features again.

"Of course, thank you sir!" Italy said with a big smile on his mouth.

Austria folded the newspaper and put it on the table in front of the sofa. With a sight he got up from the sofa.

"Just finish your work and get going, I will retire for the day"

"Yes, good night. You are so kind!" Italy waved at Austria as he walked up the stairs.

"

Austria came into his room and felt relieve when he closed the door. His private room was bigger than an average bedroom. In his room he had a big bed, a little fireplace and some small instruments: A violin, some flutes and a harmonica. Austria was very virtuoso, he could play many instruments but his number one favourite was the piano. The piano was in his music office outside his home, he kept the portable instruments in his room and took the ones he wanted to bring to the music office with him from time to time.

He never played the harmonica. It was a gift from Hungary a long time ago, she said he could play this to use his great talent and spread joy. But there was no chance he would do that, he thought the harmonica was a sordid thing not worth to play and waste his musical talent on. And joy had been dead within him for a long time...

The answering machine to his phone on the nightstand was blinking. Austria kept his phone in his bedroom because he was only in the bedroom during nighttime when he was asleep, so during this time no one would call him. If he had the phone in the living room, Hungary or Italy would get it and call for Austria and say the call was for him. He did have this answering machine so he could find out why the caller called and call back if it was something important. Austria activated the answering machine:

 _Hey Austria, its Germany calling. I invite you to a Christmas party at my place tomorrow. I know you did not show up last year or the year before or the year BEFORE, but I hope you will come. This is a party for all the Germanic countries to celebrate, it would be great if you would come to celebrate Christmas with us. We all welcome you! Wir heißen sie herzlich willkommen!_

Austria rolled his eyes. When was Germany going to learn? No way Austria would ever want to come to such wild and messy events! Especially if it all was because of Christmas! There was no point calling back to say he was coming to the party or not, Germany and the other would figure it out on their own anyway if they were to be stupid enough to think there would be a chance Austria would come this year.

"

Austria changed into his pajamas and folded his clothes neatly together. He went towards the light switch to turn off the lights. As he was was reaching towards the light switch, it automatically went off by itself and the room became dark. The only light left in the bedroom was what was left of the fire in the little fireplace. Austria stared at the little source of light, breathing heavily. One would be soon to asume there was something wrong with the power when lights went off on it own. But Austria did not have that thought, he saw the light switch move on its own! He did not come up with logical explainations on how that could have happened, his only thoughts were about superstition. He did not believe in such things, or...

Austria shook his head, trying to snap out of the fear. With a shaky hand he turned on the lights and turned them off again. He repeated the action a few times, he turned the light switch up and down rapidly. He stopped, leaving the lights on and stared at the light switch for a moment. After a little while as he did not see the light switch turn itself off again, he breathed out.

"Strange... What was that?" Austria mumbled to himself.

He felt everything was okay now so he turned off the lights, no more self actions from the object. He found his way to his bed, layed down to get comfortable and covered himself up with blankets.

Only a few minutes after laying down in bed, Austria could hear some noises. It was not sounds of the wind or the rain, neither any sound coming from Hungary since she never made any sounds during the night. Austria layed completely still, not moving a muscle, nor breathing. It sounded like someone was struggling walking up the stairs, someone who was carrying heavy things. There were sounds of chains rattling and heavy objects falling down, one thud at the time. The "no moving and breathing" was no longer so he could listen carefully, Austria was paralyzed out of fear. Who, or, what was it? Where was it going and what would it do? Another thud was heard, but that was the sound of a bang loud enough to make the room shake. It snapped Austria out of the paralyzed state, and with a twich he hid himself underneath the blankets. After a while underneath the blankets, when it was out of oxygen, it became quiet. The sounds faded and faded till it became quiet enough for him to hear his own breathing. He slowly pulled the blankets away. There was nothing unusual to be seen.

"What was that sound right now?" Austria asked himself, now completely out of the blankets.

"The sound of an old friend coming for a visit"

A shock ran through Austria`s spine as he let out a scream. Next to his bed stood a figure. Or could it be called a figure? Austria`s eyes got attached to who, or what, replied to his words. It looked like a person made out of light blue fading air who was floating above the floor. What was on the floor were many concrete blocks attached to chains, and the said chains were all around this person, thing, or whatever. Around the waist, shoulders, neck, legs and arms. As for the apperance of this floating creature: It wore an all torn up millitary combat attire. The body seemed to be all torn up as well; both fresh and blood dried bandages, and wounds that never seemed to get bandages with those looking wide open and sealed with rotting attempts with skin trying to heal itself. As for the main appearance with the features... Austria frowned.

"Germany. Is this a prank because you know I won`t show up at your silly Christmas party? Reveal yourself now!"

"Germany? I don`t know , nor am I this Germany. Don`t you recognize me? And this is no prank, I am for real"

Austria got off the bed. He went to the fireplace and picked up the fire iron.

"What are you doing?"

Austria poked, or tried to poke, this figure he surely thought was Germany. The fire iron did not stab anything solid, it just went through and "Germany" was not affected at all.

"I don`t know how you do this... It is a good trick, I will give you that much" Austria said.

"You refuse to believe? Fine, I will make you believe"

"Germany" dissolved into visiable blue air and blew its way to Austria`s instruments. The air stopped by the violin and suddenly dissappeared. Seconds later the bow was rising and touched the violin strings. The violin was rising up in the air as well and the bow went back and forth the strings of the violin. All by itself, the violin was playing an awful sound no one would define as music. Austria covered his ears and watched this solo performance. His disbelief was vanishing, there was no way someone could do a trick like that spontaneously! Austria dropped the fire iron and fell on his knees. His hands remained to his ears, but his fingers crawled their way to his eyes. The violin stopped playing and both the instrument and the bow was let down gently. Blue air came out of it and the one looking like Gernamy appeared in front of Austria.

"Do you believe now?" It asked.

"Yes, yes, yes! I do, I do!" Austria shouted out.

"Look at me closely, Austria. Can you not remember me, the little boy who used to live here with you and Hungary?"

Austria put his hands down to his lap. It was not something he enjoyed to look at, but he scrutinized the one he thought was Germany. His eyes widened out of realization. No, he could not be...

"H-h-holy Roman Empire?" Austria stuttered.

The figure nodded.

"It took you a while"

"

Holy Roman Empire was a little boy who was growing up to become a strong soldier. Austria used to have this position too, so it was agreed to let the little boy live with Austria and his wife in hope for the little one to learn a thing or two from Austria. Holy Roman Empire and Austria did not have a very close relationship, but they respected each other and had formal meetings from time to time. Austria did not learn Holy Roman Empire a thing about the life as a soldier, but that was not needed, Holy Roman Empire managed to get strong and skilled all on his own. Despite him being only a child, he voluntarily went of to fight in wars in order to become mighty. He never came back home and it was confirmed years later afterwards that he died. For Austria to see him again was a scary surprise, how and why was Holy Roman Empire`s ghost here?

"You don`t look the same since the last time I saw you" Austria managed to say after letting the whole situation sink into him a bit.

Despite Holy Roman Empire`s appenance as an injured air figure, he was not the little boy Austria lastly saw him. Earlier when Austria thought he was Germany was because he looked a lot like Germany, a smaller and less muscular teen Germany with his hair down. Holy Roman Empire made a thin smile.

"I did grow up when I was fighting in wars. But I never reached adulthood and I never got to see my beloved before I passed away"

Austria frowned.

"What..? What do you mean?"

The ghost looked at Austria with intense eyes.

"I have come here to warn you, Austria . I will not let you do the mistake I made."

"You make no sence at all. What mistake? I will never go out to fight wars again"

"No, but I made a sudden mistake you have been doing for a long time. You push away and reject the people around you, the ones who respect and hold you dear"

The fear Austria had seemed to have disappeared. He stood up from the floor and was ready for a proper conversation with Holy Roman Empire.

"That is your warning you had to leave the underworld for? Why not come if the matter is very important?"

Holy Roman Empire looked at Austria in disbelief.

"I thought this attitude of yours was only a shield but you really have become like that have you not?"

Holy Roman Empire`s look became serious again.

"I also thought it was no problem to leave others behind since my actions were far more important. But as I was lying in a pit dying with my wounds rotting and getting eaten, I could not stop crying as I thought what an idiot I was for leaving the one I loved back home and wishing I was back home together with my beloved, Hungary and you"

Austria cringed.

"You don`t have to tell me in detail of you death, your appearance tells me enough"

Holy Roman Empire sighed. He lifted up the chains.

"You see those? My regrets have become these chains I must carry for an eternity. And this will happen to you as well if you do not change!"

Holy Roman Empire threw down the chains he had in one hand and lifted up said hand holding up three fingers.

"My words are not enough to convince you, so tonight three spirits will come to you, they will show you different perspectives. Listen to them, you should not wish to become a remorseful ghost carrying heavy chains. Realize your sins, or this faith will come to you sooner"

Austria`s usual stern look disappeared and insecurity replaced those features.

"This faith..will come sooner?" Austria said in a volume just above a whisper.

Holy Roman Empire flew through Austria, his concrete block following him as they scraped the floor. Holy Roman Empire stopped in front of the door and turned to look at Austria.

"Farewell, Austria. I hope for your sake this will be the last time you see me"

Holy Roman Empire was fading away and he was completely gone after he flew through the door. No sounds were heard afterwards unlike the ones he made as he was coming.

Austria just stood where he was standing for a while, not sure what to belief. Was all this for real? What was awaiting him if these three spirits came?

"

 **This chapter became longer than I thought, I really did not want it to take long to be finished! I hope I will get it all done during December.**

 **PS: Please don`t start any arguments with this Germany/HRE theory, I don`t care about it now, in this fic they are two different people.**


	3. The Past

It took a while for Austria to fall asleep. He had a hard time doing that with all the images in his head, they were showing crystal clear in his mind. Holy Roman Empire showing up as a teenage ghost, the supernatural things he did and the thing he said... The words of Holy Roman Empire did affected him slightly as well. Three spirits... Were they going to come in his mind and enter as some sort nightmares to scare him? Or were they actually...? Austria awaited for something unusual to happen again as he was lying in bed. Fifteen minutes passed, thirty minutes passed and so on, nothing happened. With that Austria fell asleep in hope the night would be peaceful.

"

A bright light suddenly appeared. Austria woke up with a start and drowsily looked around the room. It was no dream, Austria was positive he was woken up by a sudden bright light. However, as he looked around he could not see anything, the room was completely dark. The leftover fire in the fireplace had extinguished and the moon and the stars did not shine through the curtains. Where did that light come from then? There were no sounds to be heard either, so how and what...?

"I-is anyone here?" Austria asked out as he sat up.

"Depends on how you defy presence"

Austria could have sworn his heart stopped for a split second. A voice was talking, loud and clear, out of the blue. Even after this voice talked, everything was silent nonetheless. The room felt empty, Austria could not sence anyone`s presence in his room. There were no sounds of movements, there was not even a sound of anyone else breathing!

Austria did not know exacly where the voice came from. It was not heard next to him, it was not heard far away by the door. It was as if it came from above like some God, or a voice in his mind. Was he hallucinating?

"Am I going insane?" Austria asked himself, putting a hand to his forehead.

The bright light he awoke from appeared again. But this time, something else appeared along, or, as it.

"I have not yet started showing you what I will show you, your mind should not be affected"

Like Holy Roman Empire, another air figure appeared. The bright light slowly stopped shining and showed where it came from. The great light was what looked like fire on this figures head. The figure was a small boy wearing a wide white robe long enough to cover his feet completely. In his hand he held something that greatly recembled a megaphone. No, with this white figure with a flame on his head it looked like he was holding a giant candle snuffer. The figure looked like a airy human candle, and he also looked a lot like...

"Latvia?..." Austria let out with a breath.

Except for the candlelight hair, his eyes had the colour of a candlelight and his skin was shining a light hue similar to a candlelight. He had the features of Latvia! His height, his innocent and also pityful face with a hint of tenderness in his eyes like the Latvia Austria has seen. He even had the curly hair Latvia had. It made the candlelight on top of his head flicker and not look steady like the fire one usually saw on top of a candle. His outer curls came out as sparks which joined the middle of the candlelight as they came out. What was slighly different with the features however was the shape his mouth had. It was not down curved like how Latvia usually had it, but the figure was not smiling either. The shape of his mouth was straight like a flowing river on a sunny day. His eyes wore its emotion too, stoic but at the same time gentle.

Austria came out with the questions his mind got filled with.

"What is going on? Are you dead now? Has Holy Roman Empire send your ghost here to tell me your regrets in life?"

The Latvia figure slowly shook its head.

"I am not Latvia nor am I here to haunt, I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. I have come here to bring you and show you your past."

He outstretched his arm and hand.

"Come with me, let us return to you past"

Austria just stared at the ghost`s hand. Taking the hand of someone he have just met was one thing he refused to do, but taking this ghost`s hand... What would happen?

"Come with me" The Ghost of Christmas past repeated.

Hesitantly, Austria reached out his hand. At first he gently touched the ghosts fingertips to make sure the fingers were safe to touch, he had the thought he would get burned by touching this creature. No harm came from the touch, so slowly and surely Austria`s fingers went deeper and deeper in to the hand and the ghost made a gentle grip. The hold was not a common one, the ghost held Austria`s hand the way a gentleman held a lady`s as he was about to kiss her hand. There was no going back, the ghost pulled Austria up and he led him to the window. The curtains were drawn and the window opened up by itself. Austria felt the cold winter air to his skin. It seemed to be a tranquil night. It was no wind to feel, just a chilly gentle breeze. The Ghost of Christmas past did not stop walking towards the window, Austria thought they were getting dangerously close. Austria grabbed the curtain as he figured what was going to happen.

"I can`t go out through the window, I will fall!" He exclaimed.

The Ghost of Christmas past was already out the window, floating outside in front of the window. He reached both his arm out towards Austria. It looked like he was going to give Austria a hug, but then his hands started to glow brighter than the rest of his body.

"What is this?!" Austria exclaimed as he started to float up in the air.

The Ghost of Christmas past grabbed Austria`s hand, this time with a firm grip.

"The past holds many wonders" He said and flew away with Austria.

"

Within seconds they were away from the mansion. Flying above the ground seeing all the houses was an interesting feeling. Austria could not help but admire the beauty of the streets as he saw how they looked like during nighttime. The night was not as dark as he thought it would be, the nightly sky was enlighted by a web of stars. However, the night started to change fast as he and the Ghost of Christmas past began to fly faster and everything around them looked completely unclear as things were changing.

When everything around them stopped changing, it was suddenly daytime. They were also no longer by the streets.

"I can`t believe it..." Austria muttered.

"Do you remember?" The Ghost of Christmas past asked.

They went back many years ago back to the time when Austria was a child. When Austria was a little boy he was practically raised in this place, a millitary school for nations to grow strong and powerful. Austria was not thrilled to be back, he put his hands to his upper arms and looked away from the children in millitary uniforms who were playing in the snow during their free period.

"I remember very well. Please take me away from here, I don`t want anyone to see me in my sleepwear" Austria said as he looked down on his feet.

"We are shadows of the past, we can not be seen. But I will take you away to show you one of your Christmases here"

Before Austria at all could reply, they were inside a room in just a blink of time. Despite it being Christmas time, the room they were inside was very plain. The colours around were grey and dull brown, the furnitures consisted of a big fireplace in the middle of the room with a big, crackling fire and benches in rows. In one corner there was one big window and in front of it sat one wounded boy in a wheelchair.

"Who is that we see here?" The Ghost of Christmas past pointed at the boy.

Tears started to form in Austria`s eyes.

"A little boy who did not do great in this school. If the training did not beat him up, his classmates did. He was frail and gentle, he did not fit as a fighter. Everybody knew from the start, himself included. He did good and learned politics fast, but no one cared about that back then...Fighting was the only matter" Austria said as he looked at the equally sad boy looking longingly out the window.

"Why is he all alone?"

A tear ran down Austria`s cheek.

"Everybody went for the holyday to celebrate Christmas. I, the boy, had nowhere to go as no one wanted to see me till I got stronger."

The little boy by the window started to sob.

"Take me away, I can not bear to watch this sight anymore!" Austria begged the spirit.

"Let`s see another Christmas."

With another blink of time they no longer saw the little boy in the wheelchair, they now saw a young man walking restlessly back and forth the same big window. Austria sighed as he saw his adolescent self.

"So many lonely Christmases.."

"This was a valueble one I presume" The Ghost of Christmas past said as he looked at the double door. It opened up and a young lady entered and ran towards past Austria.

"Roderich!" She cried out joyfully.

"Elizaveta?!" Past Austria stopped up in surprise.

She gave him a bear hug to past Austria`s astonished.

"What are you doing here? Are you going to beat me up before leaving for Christmas?" Past Austria asked.

She shook her head.

"I am sorry I did those things to you years ago, I promise I will no longer do that to you. You have showed me nothing but kindness despite what I did to you when I was a stupid, power-hungry child. I am not going to let you spend another Christmas alone here at school, I will bring you to my hometown to celebrate Christmas!" She took his hand.

"What? But I-"

"No buts, I insist. Everybody deserves a Merry Christmas, and I intent to give you one!"

Without any other words or time for past Austria to bring along anything, he was practically dragged by Hungary to the carriage she came with. Past Austria did not resist Hungary`s hold, he did his best to pick up the pace as they ran.

"It was incredible to see this little rascal come for me as such a lovely young woman..." Austria said in awe.

The Ghost of Christmas Past took his hand.

"Let us follow"

With the Ghost of Christmas past floating up in the air with Austria, they flew and followed the carriage all the way. The carriage stopped by a small place completely decorated by Christmas items and filled with people dancing and having fun. If the time pace was a normal one the journey would have been long, but with the Ghost of Christmas past`s abilities the journey for Austria only lasted for seconds.

Past Austria and Hungary went inside, arm in arm. Austria looked tenderly at himself from the past and Hungary.

"I remember this was the best long carriage ride I ever had..." Austria said.

"There is more to see" The Ghost of Christmas past said and brought Austria inside the building where the Christmas gathering occurred.

Past Austria and Hungary took off their coats and put them down next to the other coats and jackets. Hungary wore an elegant, light green ball dress and with just a few adjustments, her hair looked stunning. Past Austria looked a bit ashamed as he was not dressed for such formality. He wore a white dress shirt and black pants as he highly prefered to wear nice clothing when he was not forced to try learning how to fight, but his attire was not enough to fit in this Chistmas gathering. Hungary did not seem to be bothered by what he wore, she took his arm and brought him out to the dance floor where they started to dance together in a slow dance. Past Austria looked slightly uncomfortable but tried his best to focus on the dance and Hungary smiled at him sweetly. She stopped the dance and went through her purse, looking for something. She picked something up from the purse.

"What is it, Elizaveta?" Past Austria asked.

Hungary took out past Austria`s hand and put an item in it.

"A Christmas present for you, I have heard you play on flutes and I wanted to give you something "

Past Austria looked down at the item. A harmonica.

"With this you can spread joy and make your music even more beautiful. I know it is not much and it is simple-"

"I love it, thank you Elizaveta"

Past Austria smiled back in gratitude and gave her a hug. As he pulled back, he looked at her with a guilty look.

"I am sorry, but I don`t have any present for you..."

Hungary smirked and pointed up the roof. As past Austria looked up, he saw something green with a red ribbon around which reminded him of leafs. A mistletoe.

"You can give me the most precious thing there is..." She said.

Past Austria blushed. As Hungary closed her eyes, he got closer to her while he puckering his lips. His lips touched hers and things went forward from there. He closed his eyes and the kiss became more intimate and passionate. Hungary put her arms around his neck and he put his around her waist and they stood there and kissed for a while as they were glued together. They slowly released the kiss and looked at each other lovingly with their foreheads to each other.

"It was quite a pleasure to have my first real kiss from you, Elizaveta"

"Me too, and thank you. This was a wonderful gift, Roderich."

They held each other in an embrace and continued to slow dance.

"

As Austria stood from a distance, he carefully touched his lips.

"It is as if I can feel it all over again... I never thought it was possible for me to fall in love with someone so fast" Austria said.

"But some things do not last forever"

The Ghost of Christmas past changed everything with a blink of time once again and now they were in an office like place with just past Austria and Hungary inside. They both where slightly older, so this occured some years after the Christmas party. Past Austria sat by a desk and went through papers, completely focused. He appeared to be so focused, to focused to even notice Hungary standing in front of the desk.

"You have grown so distant, Roderich. It is as if you are no longer yourself" Hungary said.

Past Austria looked up from the papers.

"Politics and economics are picking up now, Hungary. I am becoming a stronger nation, I can not be distracted by anything else"

Hungary had a look with an even mix of sadness and anger.

"My love for you has not done anything for you? The greed I managed to let go from as a child is now possessing you"

"I don`t care if I must sell my soul for all this, this evolving must continiue"

Hungary slammed the desk.

"I release you. You are no longer the man I fell in love with, I do not know who you are anymore! Goodbye, Austria" Hungary went out and slammed the door.

Past Austria huffed indifferently and went back to his papers.

Austria, along with the Ghost of Christmas Past standing from a slight distance, looked distressed.

"You did get her back, did you not?" The Ghost of Christmas past asked Austria.

Austria looked at the spirit with sad eyes.

"Our marriage was all an arranged one by our superiors. As Hungary came back she openly yelled and refused to go through with it. She did not even look at me when we got wed, the only time she touched me was when she put the ring on my finger. I was not against our arranged marriage, I was willing to do anything to become a greater nation...

Austria gritted his teeth.

"Take me away from here, take me away from this illusion!" He said desperately.

"Illusion? You ought to remember you created those illusions, nothing can be changed in the past"

Austria ripped the giant candle snuffer out of The Ghost of Christmas past`s hands, put it on the spirits head and dragged it down.

"Take me back! You said you would not haunt me, so do not do that!"

As he pressed the candle snuffer lower and lower everything around him was fading till all became pitch dark. The item in his hands dissappeared and as everything became clearer around him, he was back in his bedroom. As Austria looked around he knew the Ghost of Christmas past was gone. Nothing was changed, the time had been frozen all along. The time on the clock was unchanged...

All Austria could do was to go back to sleep. With a heavy heart he went back to bed, feeling emotionally affected for the first time for years.


	4. The Present

Austria woke up with a start again. Loud music was heard in his room, loud enough to sound like a whole orchestra! What now? Austria finally managed to fall fast asleep after he had been thinking of the past. The past images appeared when he closed his eyes, he fell asleep slowly when he saw those. It was whenever he was about to fall asleep, a memory showed up clearly and "shook" him back to consciousness. The images faded away eventually and he managed to fall sound asleep. It did not last long since the loud music woke him up.

"

Rather then being suprised by the enlightned room with the fireplace now having a wild fire and the one who now was here, Austria immediately fastened his look at what made the music. It was his instruments, they played by themselves and were swirling around his room!

"Now is the time to get in to Christmas spirit!" The one who was here said.

"Stop, stop this!" Austria yelled.

The instruments stopped playing and they slowly stopped swirling and went back to the ground like feathers. Now being calm as his instruments were not playing wildly and swirling around anymore, Austria payed attention to the one who was here. This one was not an air figure, this one looked like someone in flesh and blood. Was this a ghost in a proper human form? He had a leaf wreath around his head and the leafs did not look withered at all. He wore what resembled a green bathrobe and the chest was completely exposed.

"Why can`t you ghosts leave my instruments alone?" Austria said as he remembered what Holy Roman Empire did.

Austria took a better look at the face of the one who resembled a mortal. He regonized the face and he could not believe this one would dress and act this way, Austria was used to see how calm and sensible this man always was.

"Estonia? Is this some kind of a joke? I never expected you to do magic tricks and behave this way!" Austria said sternly.

The one Austria talked to had a good laugh.

"Quite a serious one, are you not? You are so funny! I am the Ghost of Christmas present, not some Estonia" He said.

Despite him looking like Estonia, there were other things that stood out than just the behaviour. The way he acted was a complete contrast, his appearance only had a few differences. His skin tone was paler, it remided Austria of porcelain and one could almost use his bare chest as a mirror. Despite the porcelain skin, he did not look like one who was made of porcelain. He was build more robust than Estonia, Austria did notice that right away but he thought Estonia had grown a backbone or something in order to go against his bosses.

"Are you really a ghost? You look so...alive" Austria said.

"I hope I do. Carpe diem, seize the day. You are what you are during the present time, later it can get better, unchanged or worse".

"I don`t understand...?" Austria said confused.

The Ghost of Christmas present picked up a piece of wood lying halfway out of the fireplace. As the wood came up, the fire came along. It did not even leave off any cinder, everything came along! The light from the fireplace was now in the spirits hand as his torch. The Ghost of Christmas present pointed at his right arm.

"Touch my robe, I can show you the present time and make you understand"

Hesitatingly Austria reached out slowly. Was he going to fly out the window as well and Austria would have to cling to him for dear life? However when Austria`s fingertips lightly touched the robe, they were suddenly outside in the middle of the streets. On the streets there were no one to see which made the streets look much bigger but also look abandoned and lonely.

"Do you know where all the people are, Austria?" The Ghost of Christmas present asked.

"Of course, they are all home. No one would want to be outside when it is so cold!" Austria said.

There was no blizzard outside, but the calm winter weather on the streets was bitter enough. Austria could not feel the cold since he was with the Ghost of Christmas present but with what he saw around him, he could almost feel it as if it was real. The ground all white because of the snow, icicles hanging everywhere, even the the snowmen made by children were frozen!

"True, no one would want to be out here to freeze. Still, someone must"

This time it was the Ghost of Christmas present who touched Austria and brought him to an alley. This alley was not a big one, especially since the alley was crowded by many people. They were standing around a burn barrel as they were either rubbing themselves or their hands. The clothes they wore were ragged and made of fabric that could not keep the cold outside their bodies. The children were the ones who wore most layers of clothing, clothing far too big for them. What confused Austria was to see how those children with dead pale face and blue lips were smiling.

"They are so cold, how can they be smiling?" Austria asked the Ghost of Christmas present.

"Despite the hardness they must go through, they are not alone. They are happy to be with each other, all gathered around to celebrate Christmas."

They had no food to eat, no presents to open or give each other, but still they managed to hold their heads up. As Austria looked more carefully at the smiles of the children, he noticed something was off. The smiles did not belong to children who were truly happy, those smiles were only forced ones. Attempts to be happy like the kids who had a home... They started to sing carols and they got closer to the burn barrel. It was surprising how they managed to stand so close and not catch fire.

Their singing was not something Austria liked to listen to. It was not because of their singing voices, their lack of instruments or what carols they sang. It was their way of singing, the mood they left off. It was no joy in their tone, they were monotone like robots!

Austria tugged on the Ghost of Christmas present`s robe , similar to how a little boy tugged on his father`s arm to make the father buy him candy.

"I want to leave, I cant`t stand to see and listen to this anymore!" Austria said.

"That is fine, there is something else for you to see"

"

They were no longer on the streets, now there were in an even more lonely place. It was snow everywhere, no paths could be seen. One thing that stood out slightly was a shack standing nearby. It looked old and dilapidated.

"Why have you brought me here?" Austria asked.

The Ghost of Christmas present pointed at the shack.

"Look inside from the window" He said.

The spirit and Austria went closer and managed to find a window big enough for them both to view from. As Austria looked inside, he could see some light and movements in there.

"There are people living there? How can anyone be able to live in such a place?" Austria asked.

"They have roof above their heads, this is the place they call home" The Ghost of Christmas present told him.

"

Two men appeared. They sat down at a long table and started talking to each other.

"I will not say that I have missed you stupid bastard, but I guess I am glad to see you here at home"

"I am happy to be home, Lovino. Being out on the streets playing guitar for tip when it is winter do not sell well..."

"Then get better, we all live crappy enough as it is. We need money or else we will starve to death!"

The man rose up from his seat.

"I am trying my best, your brother and I are the only ones who makes the money here!"

Lovino rose up from his seat as well.

"I would have been out working too if I could, but someone has to take care of nonno!"

Someone came out towards the two with a serving dish in his hands.

"Please do not yell so loudly, nonno is trying to rest!" The one with the serving dish whispered sternly.

The two immeadiately stopped yelling and calmly sat down again.

"

Austria was ashtonished to see who showed up.

"Italy?! Italy lives here?!" Austria exclaimed.

The Ghost of Christmas present humphed.

"What did you expect? Without this guitar man he would probably have been with the others around the burn barrel"

"

Back inside this "home", Italy was preparing a meal. It was most likely their Christmas dinner. Yet another one showed up, but this man was different from the others. He was bigger, slightly broader and he was older than all of them. What stood out clearly was his walking and how he struggled to even move his cane forward as he took his struggling steps.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" He said in a jolly tone.

Lovino almost jumped out of his seat and Italy almost threw away the serving dish as they both ran towards the man and took each of his arms to put on their shoulders.

"What are you doing up, nonno? You should rest in bed!" Italy said in a tone of worry.

"Nonesense! I can never be too sick to celebrate Christmas with you" Nonno said cheerfully.

Nonno, supported by Italy and Lovino, looked at the one who now sat alone by the table.

"Antonio! How nice it is to see you here!"

The man was seated by the table and Lovino put his cane next to his chair. Antonio took the man`s hand.

"I always come home to celebrate Christmas with you three. Nothing can ever make me be somewhere else on this day."

As they all were seated, Italy lifted up the lid of the serving dish. In there was a roasted bird with the size not bigger than a regular human head.

"This was the biggest I could get with my salary... At least I do have some money left that might last for a bit" Italy said.

Nonno leaned in closer to Italy and gave him a hug.

"Dinner looks delicious, Feliciano. Thank you for making such a divine meal for us! God bless us all" Nonno said.

With that everybody started to fill their plates and eat.

"

Outside the window, Austria slowly turned his look on the spirit.

"Tell me...Who is this nonno?" He asked.

"This man is the grandfather of Feliciano, or Italy as you know him, and his brother Lovino. He does not look like a grandfather, does he?"

Austria shook his head. This nonno looked more like a young father than some sort of a grandfather.

"In poverty humans tend to breed more than people who lives a decent life. They debut at young age, so their grandfather was probably very young when he had his child and his child was most likely young as well when those two were born"

"Do not call it breeding, that is what animals do" Austria told him in disgust.

"Oh, so you do see poor people as human beings?"

"I..." Austria did not know what else to say.

The Ghost of Christmas present soared with his torch.

"Time for you to go back" He said to Austria.

Austria grabbed the arm with the hand that did not hold the torch.

"No! No, tell me! Please tell me...What is wrong with Italy`s grandfather?"

"Much I am afraid. The wounds from his past has left him injured and sick. He is getting sicker and sicker and he will is not get any better"

"Will he...die?" Austria almost struggled to say the last word.

"I see this table once again. Italy, Lovino and Antonio are sitting there as one single candle is set in the middle of the table being the only source of light. There is one empty seat with a cane next to it, a seat never to be used ever again." The Ghost of Christmas past said.

Austria felt as if a heartstring tore up.

"That can not be! There must be something that can be done, there must be something you can do!" Austria grabbed his robe with both hands.

"There is nothing more I can do, I am just a mere illusion"

Gone. There was nothing in Austria`s hands anymore, the Ghost of Christmas past was gone. The Ghost was so cheerful at first but as he showed Austria the present, he became more serious and he caught the mood from the events he showed. Oh, Italy...

Nothing more was to be seen, Austria was back in his dark room. Somehow, the room now seemed even darker...


	5. The Future

Austria felt something prodding his temble. By the first prod he thought it was a drop from the roof falling on him. But after the second prod, and the continuing prodding, he knew those were not drops dripping on him. It felt like a woodpecker was trying to peck a hole in his skull. Austria felt exhausted, but he never managed to fall asleep again. That was one reason why he did not react at the prodding, he would have jumped right away when he felt it. His body felt weary, so did his mental state but his mind refused to slow down the newly made memories. With all that he saw was going on with the others during present time actually managed to leave him a bit broken-hearted. The poor people celebrating Christmas out in the cold and the family with the sick but still jolly grandfather... Oh Italy...

The prodding did not stop, Austria decided to react more physically to it. He slowly opened his eyes and received a shock at what he saw. It all started with a ghostlike Latvia with the appearance of a candle, then a more jolly to dead serious Estonia, and now...Who was standing before him in a cloak?

"Who are you? Are you Lithuania or the grim reaper?" Austria asked the figure standing above him next to his bed with a shaky voice.

The only thing which reminded Austria of Lithuania with this creature was the face. The face is what one usually look at first when you meet new people. This face did not have the same gentle features Lithuania had, this face reminded him a bit of the Holy Roman Empire he saw tonight. A stoic expression with a mix of sadness and anger within, the skin being pale grey with dark circles underneath the eyes. The eyes were not bright green like Lithuania`s, instead those where dull green. With a good look in those eyes, Austria would have felt as if he was in a deep forest at a late Autumn night.

"Neither, I am the Ghost of Christmas yet to come" The creature answered.

Even though this one did not have a face with comfortable expressions, it was the part of this creature`s body that seemed normal. His entire body was covered by this loose fitting black coat with a big hood on his head. It was loose enough to make Austria think this ones body was not broader than a broom! They were not so visiable as the arms of his cloak were long, but Austria got to see a bit of his hands. But those could not be defined as hands, not hands of a living human to say the least. Austria though it was someone with long nails who prodded his head when he came back to his sences. Austria found out it was not nails, this creatures did not have nails, he had bones as fingers! Hands underneath the skin was revealed by this ghost, joints and cartilage could be seen with tips abnormally sharp like a feline`s claws. A ghost with skeleton hands and the face of a living human, a human filled with defeat and lack of rest.

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come pointed at the door with his claw boned finger.

"Is there more for me to see? I do not know if I can handle more..." Austria said.

"You are not too tired for anything as you are still alive" The Ghost of Christmas yet to come simply answered.

Austria sat up in bed but did not manage to get any longer than that. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come did not do anything to Austria as an attempt to make him get up. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come did not ask or yell at him to get up, neither did he take Austria`s hand or wrist, he just continiued to point at the door. After a long time of Austria just sitting in bed and the Ghost of Christmas yet to come pointing at the door, the spirit slowly let down his "pointing arm". He put his bone hands to the edge of his hood and pulled the said hood down.

"What are you doing?" Austria asked puzzled.

"Come with me now" The Ghost of Christmas yet to come said.

The face was creepy enough, but with the hood down it was terrifying. He had the same hair as Lithuania but the neck and chest area was different, or Austria hoped so. The only difference between the neck and chest area and his hands was the neck and chest area had skin. The collarbones looked like they were about to rip themselves out of the skin and the shoulders looked like billard balls. When the Ghost of Christmas yet to come turned around to walk towards the door, Austria saw his bony back. But that was not what caught his attention. The Ghost of Christmas yet to come had his upper back filled with old scars. Austria was not sure if they were whip or cut scars, could it be a combination of both? What Austria was aware of was how painful it looked. Austria could almost feel the pain...

Austria got up from bed.

"I will follow you, but...could you put your hood back on, please?"

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come stopped. Without giving any reply, he put his hood back on.

Austria went next to the Ghost of Christmas yet to come and together they went towards the door.

"

As Austria expected from a ghost, especially a ghost scary as the one he was following now, something magical made a "portal" to the future. When Austria opened the door he did not see the hallway behind it, it was...his music office. But it did not look the way it always did and why were there people there?

"What are they doing?" Austria asked when he saw two men lift up his piano.

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come said nothing, he just pointed at the men and all the other people around.

"This man must have been a very talented musician, I have never seen so many different instruments owned by one person!" A woman said.

"He was not a human, he was Austria. Now help us pack instead of blabbering" One of the men carrying the piano said to her.

"His wife finally figured it out. She left and no one knows where she ended up, could be dead for all we know" A man carrying the cello said.

Austria did not like what these people were saying.

"Please, do not talk like that...I have feelings. Oh my goodness, Hungary..." Austria said just above a whisper so low the people would not be able to hear him if he really "was there".

Austria looked at the Ghost of Christmas yet to come.

"And where am I during all this?" He asked the spirit.

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come turned his look at the door. Austria knew what to do.

"

This time they came to a place Austria did not expect to arrive to, a graveyard. The door disappeared as the two of them entered the graveyard. It was dark all around even though there was snow on the ground, the ground with many tombstones.

"Why have you brought me here?" Austria asked the Ghost of Christmas yet to come.

The spirit pointed at a corner. At first Austria thought there was yet another corner with poor people standing around a burn barrel. There were people standing there, poor people, but they were here for a reason.

"Maybe we should go back home, your grandfather would have wanted us to celebrate Christmas with happiness"

"It is not fucking easy, Antonio. How can we celebrate Christmas now?!"

"Brother... Do not shout in a graveyard. Nonno must rest in peace."

Italy, along with his brother and this Antonio, were in front of a grave. Italy was on his knees right in front of it, Lovino and Antonio stood behind Italy. They stood there in silence, looking at the grave. Lovino was getting tears in his eyes and he began to back off the grave. He grabbed Antonio`s arm.

"Let us get out of here...I do not want to be here anymore"

It was obvious to hear he was upset, Lovino seemed to do his best to hold it back.

"Ok, Lovino, we will go home now. Are you coming, Feliciano?"

Italy seemed to not get anything of what Antonio said but Antonio did not repeat, he just waited.

"Soon" Italy said, completely monotone.

With this no response or reaction, it was hard to understand Italy. He seemed to be in his own world there he sat on the ground staring at the grave.

"Do not sit there for too long" Antonio said and went off to catch up with Lovino, who let go of Antonio`s arm and ran away.

When Lovino and Antonio were completely gone, Italy no longer sat still and stared. Water ran down from his eyes and his lips trembled. He put his hands to his face and started sobbing.

"I am sorry, nonno. I am sorry I could not do more for you!" Italy said to the grave with a chocked voice.

Italy leaned his head to the tombstone, put his arms around it and hugged it. His shoulders were shaking as he sobbed in to the stone.

"

"I did not want this to happen..." Austria said.

He turned to the spirit and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Please tell me there is a way to change all this!"

The Ghost of Christmas yet to come gave him a dull look.

"You wanted to know where you were during all this, turn around and you will see"

Austria turned around. He could not see his future self anywhere. He was about to ask the spirit, but he noticed something. A grave in front of him was lone, other graves were not near it. Austria bend down to look at the grave close and carefully. On the tombstone it said:

 **R.I.P Roderich Edelstein, The Republic of Austria**

Austria rubbed his eyes and looked at the tombstone again. No matter how many times he repeated this action, it still said the same thing.

"No, this can not be! I can not be dead!"

A chain sprouted out from the ground in front of the grave and twirled around Austria`s waist. The chain locked itself around Austria and was dragging him down the ground.

"Your funeral was the saddest one ever. No one came to show their respects, no one came to say goodbye. It was chosen to give you a lonely grave" The Ghost of Christmas yet to come said.

The spirit turned around and started walking, leaving Austria.

Austria was halfway down the ground. He tried to resist and get himself up, but that was no use.

"No, please do not go! I do not want all this to happen, I want to change! Please do not leave me here! Hungary! Italy! Please, I never meant to cause pain!"

Then it was all over, the chain dragged him completely down to his grave.


	6. Merry Christmas

It was over now, Austria was underneath the ground. Everything around him was stuffed, there was soon no oxygen left. But how did he still manage to shout?

"No, spirit! Let me out, I will change! Let me...out"

Austria was puzzled. He was no longer underneath the ground, he now sat on the floor in his bedroom with the blanket around him. The room was completely enlightened by daylight, the door was closed and still at place and the window was closed as well with the curtains drawn. It was as if what happened tonight never took place. Austria was not a man who was affected by dreams, but this was no dream. Austria still felt he had a chain around his waist. He lifted up his shirt and there was something to be seen. Marks of chains on his skin.

Austria got up from the floor, ran to the window, withdrew the curtains and opened up the window. The bells were ringing, it was Christmas time.

"I am not dead, Christmas time is here. I have not missed it!" Austria exclaimed happily.

Austria ran around in his room, jumping up and down happily.

"The ghosts must have given me another chance! Everything is as it always has been, with me, Italy, Hungary...Hungary!"

Without putting on a morning robe or slippers, Austria went out of his room and ran in the hallway towards Hungary`s room. Without knocking on her door he opened it, ran inside her room and jumped on her bed where she was still sound asleep. He positioned himself on top of her and gave her many kisses everywhere on her face. Hungary woke up.

"Austria! What are you doing?!" Hungary exclaimed in surprise.

After a kiss on the lips, Austria laid down on her and hugged his wife.

"Please forgive me, Elizaveta. I know I have been so awful for many years, but I have always loved you and I still do! We are married, so we should love each other like a married couple, that is what I will do. Please believe me..."

Austria got up from her and was about to get off her bed, but Hungary grabbed his wrist.

"Lay here next to me, married couples do that." She said with a smile.

For a moment in silence they laid in the bed together with Hungary in Austria`s arms. It was not awkward at all, Austria found this moment to be tranquil and secure. Hungary looked at Austria with wondering eyes.

"Can you tell me now why you did not want to sleep in the same bed with me?" She asked.

Austria sighed but smiled gently at Hungary.

"This whole relationship was so confusing to me. The very first time we got to know each other, you used to beat me up. Then as we both grew up you showed me kindness and love. When we were together for a while, I selfishly shut down your love and rejected you in the case of becoming a grand nation. When we got married because of our superiors, there was a tension between us. Would acting like a married couple be out of duty or actual love?"

Hungary snuggled into Austria`s chest.

"I hated how you rejected me after the time we spend together. In this arranged marriage I did not want anything to do with you...It was hard for me to see the man I love being possessed by greed and not love me like how I love him. I never stopped loving you... Roderich"

Austria took Hungary`s hand to his lips and lightly kissed it.

"I am so sorry..." He said as he put her hand to his face.

Slowly and gently he pulled Hungary off him and got out of bed.

"Where are you going? We have made up with each other, will you not stay here for a while?" Hungary asked in a sad tone.

"I wish I could, but there is so much to do. I have to get to the street to buy snacks, gifts and so on, I do not have much time before everything is closed. After all, it is Christmas"

He walked out of the room and Hungary just remained sitting in the bed with a puzzled look on her face. Austria popped his head in the doorway.

"I do not know for how long I will be gone, so could you decorate here and there in the meantime?"

Hungary smiled. Austria sure was not the same as usual but that did not matter at all.

"Sure can! Just go do what you are going to do and then return to a colourful home" She said.

"

Austria eagerly looked around the street. The way everything looked, the smell of cookies and pastry, the sound of people singing carols... His perspective was completely changed, he now found it all to be so beautiful. He stopped up to listen to choirs, he looked at them with watery eyes lost in ecstasy. When a choir finished a song, he nodded to the singers as a gesture of a goodbye and wished them a Merry Christmas before going to the next choir or to some random street performers. After listening to Christmas carols, Austria went to stores to buy presents. His shopping bags got bigger and heavier but he did not stop smiling, he kept going as he wished everyone who passed by a Merry Christmas.

On his way home, he noticed two people he met yesterday.

"Good day, gentlemen!" Austria said loud and clear to them.

Like Hungary both had a puzzled, and also a surprised, look.

"Oh, hello Mr. Austria" The thin one said.

"A wonderful day today, is it not? I am glad I ran in to you, I have something to give"

Austria went through his coatpocket. Out of his pocket he picked up a piece of paper, a banknote of 100 Euros. He put it in the little mans hand.

"Mr. Austria, are you.."

"I am sorry, but I have used most of my money today on all this.

Austria tried to lift up his shopping bags but they have become to heavy for him to lift up, so they remained dangling on each side of him.

"I have to get going, a Merry Christmas to both of you" Austria said jolly and went off.

"

The house was beautifully decorated. When Austria came home he could see Christmas lights dangling here and there on the mansion and a wreath hanging on the door. When he entered inside he saw even more decoration. He went around from room to room to see everything, or at least most of it. Glitter, bows, figures, 2 tiny stockings and there was even a decorated Chritmas tree in the living room. Hunagry did not leave out anything, when Austria asked her to decorate she really did decorate! Austria felt guilty. For how long has she been waiting to be able to decorate...

"Welcome back, darling!" Hungary sing sang as she entered the living room.

Austria turned around to see Hungary. She was breath taking!

She did not only decorate the mansion, she was dressed in formal clothes suitable for a special event. It was like being back to the time he had his first real Christmas. She wore a light green ball dress with matching long gloves, her hair was hanging down with an Edelweiss hair clip holding back her bangs and she wore flat shoes. Her shoes had to be flat, Hungary did not like wearing high heeled shoes. Without even realizing, Austria had lifted up his arms as if he was expecting Hungary to run in to his arms. She did not run towards him, she walked towards him slowly and embraced him.

"I am so happy you let me do this" She said in the embrace.

Austria carefully kissed the top of her head, he did not want to ruin her hairdo.

"I can not believe you did all this, and so quickly too!" He said.

Hungary sneaked her way out of the embrace to be able to look at his face. And what a sight that was, Austria looked genuinely happy for all this. But the happy face went dim.

"Please forgive me, Elizaveta... Germany invited me to a Christmas party for the Germanic countries and I can not decline. I will not be there for to long, I-"

Hungary put a finger to his lips. She did not look disappointed, on the contrary, she just smiled.

"I understand, it would be rude of you to not show up... again..." She whispered the last word.

"What?"

"Oh nothing, nothing! You just go and have fun, remember to say hello from me" She said.

"I will. I will not be gone for long, I will celebrate Christmas with you"

"

Austria stood in front of the door. This door had a wreath on it like his door and that was about it. Germany`s house did not spread much Christmas mood. Austria could hear people yell and laugh loudly inside, the party had gone wild appearantly. Austria knocked on the door, but no one opened it. Austria kept knocking again and again, knocking even harder each time. As he was about to knock one more time really hard, the door opened. Austria was pushed out of the way and the one who opened the door bend over the porch and emptied his stomach with nasty sounds. Austria furrowed his eyebrows out of disgust and covered his ears so he would not be triggered to vomit as well.

"I told you to stop drinking a long time ago, Mathias!"

Norway came out the door looking at the one who was vomiting with an annoyed look. Austria could now tell the one vomiting was Denmark. Norway was the one who confirmed it was Denmark and Austria could now see with his own eyes the confirmation was true. It was not really easy to see that it was Denmark, the Denmark everybody knew was full of hyper and joyful energy and now he looked like a very ill patient who escaped from the hospital.

Norway put Denmark`s arm around his shoulders to support him. Denmark got an eye on Austria.

"Oi, Aus-Ausss-ria.. Are you here or am I having alcohol illusions or something?" Denmark said slurred.

Austria put his hands up, bracing himself in case Denmark would vomit again and directly at him.

"I am no illusion, I am here for real, Denmark"

"That is what any fantasy thing would say, you ca-OUCH!"

Norway tugged the back of his hair.

"Let us go. You have ruined yet another party for me, do not spread your imbecility and ruin the party for others!"

Norway looked bemused at Austria.

"So you did show up after all. The Christmas party last year was calmer than this ongoing one now. Everybody were sure you would not come this year either, so this is quite a surprise." Norway said.

Austria chuckled.

"I thought I should come for once. Germany did not give up inviting me and he would never, so I guess he has won." Austria said.

Denmark, dangling on Norway`s side, coughed and soiled Norway`s shirt with stomach acid. Norway turned his look at Denmark and gave him a death glare.

"There is no shame for you, Austria. You are not the biggest loser tonight... I have to go home to clean up and afterwards kill this bastard. Bye"

With that Norway turned around to go home as he dragged Denmark along.

"

Austria entered Germany`s house. Despite the informality, there were no party crashers. Austria could only see Germanic countries: The rest of the Nordics sitting on the sofa in a calm matter, Belgium dancing with her brothers and others hanging here and there either drinking or sleeping on random places. Did Austria see England sleeping on the stairs with his head stuck out the railings?...

"Austria! You came!"

Austria noticed Germany had his attention at him and was approaching him. They both shook hands and Germany clapped Austria on the shoulder.

"Hallo Germany. Yes, it was about time to come to your yearly Christmas party"

"That was unexpected. I honestly did not think you would come, so I did not bother to make a calmer party. Please excuse all this..."

Austria looked around again. Being at a wild party with vomit here and there with people acting like animals were certainly not something for an aristocrat like him. But a party was a party, right?...

After about an hour later, Austria decided to leave. He would not say he had a blast, he was probably the only one at the party who did not drink alcohol or act wild. He just walked around calmly here and there with a glass of water in his hand. The time was not horrible either, Austria did manage to chat with some other sober countries than just Germany. The best part of it all was he did not encounter Prussia, Germany told him his brother went to another party and would return here when "the best part" started.

"Bye, Germany. I have to get going, there is something else I have to do on this special day. Frohe Weihnarchten!" Austria waved as he went off.

Austria had to visit someone who deserved a Merry Christmas.

"

"Are you alright, nonno?" Italy asked.

His grandfather chuckled.

"I am here with all you three on Christmas. I could not have been better, mio caro"

Italy and Romano`s grandfather sat in front of the masonry heater with a blanket wrapped around him. Nonno was shivering, Italy and Romano seemed to be struggling finding out what to do.

Romano looked at his brother.

"What more can we do? If we give him anymore heat, he will melt to his grave!"

Someone knocked on the door, Antonio went to answer it as the two brothers went on to discuss their struggle.

"I do not know what to do, fratello. I have food I should have started cooking a long time ago! If I keep taking care of nonno with you, we will not eat anything till it is night!" Italy began to stress.

"You do not have to worry about that, Italy"

Italy, Romano and nonno turned around to see the source of sound. Italy knew very well who`s voice it was, but that could not be...

"Herr Austria?" Italy said astonished.

By the opened door, Austria and Hungary stood outside. Austria had his hands full and Hungary carried things as well.

"Hallo, Italy. May we come in? Hunagry and I have brought something for you"

Italy just stood there dumfolded for a moment, all the others inside stood still as well. After a little while, Italy got back on his tracks.

"Of course, come on in!" Italy said.

Austria and Hungary entered Italy`s home and Antonio closed the door. The couple started unpacking the things they brought. Austria unpacked a full back of many presents for Italy and his family and Hungary took out food she had carefully packed in plastic wrap. A cooked bird, potatoes, mashed dishes, an many other yummy dishes!

"You have done a lot for us in years, Italy. It is time for us to give you something" Hungary said with a smile.

Italy hugged Hungary.

"I do not know what to say! Thank you so much!"

Italy went closer to Hungary and whispered in her ear.

"How did you get Austria in to all this?" Italy asked.

Hungary, not whispering back, answered Italy.

"I did not do anything, everything was Roderich` idea!" Hungary said.

Italy turned to look at Austria. He no longer looked like the mean and stern boss, Austria looked so...happy. It was like back to the time Italy was a little boy and when he got to know Austria. Back to the time Austria was much more fair and gentler.

Austria went towards Italy.

"I am going to give you a raise, Italy"

Italy lit his eyes up. Austria could see Italy had golden brown eyes, eyes sparkling of happiness.

"Really...?" Italy let out with a breath.

"Ja, but we will talk more about that in two weeks. You enjoy your vacation and I shall do anything I can to help your family. Merry Christmas!"

Out of reflex, Italy threw his arms around his boss. After doing that, Italy regretted his actions. So much for that raise, he thought... As Italy was about to withdraw from him and apologize to Austria for the sudden physical contact, he could not. Austria held Italy, hugging him back. What on earth...?

"I guess I should go back home" Austria said.

As Austria and Hungary went toward the door, nonno raised up from where he was seated.

"Wait! Why not stay here and celebrate Christmas here with us?" Nonno suggested.

Austria and Hungary turned around.

"I do not mind. What do you say, Elizaveta?" Austria looked at his wife.

Hungary smiled.

"I would love to stay here!" She said happily.

"

So they all sat down to dine together. Nonno seemed to have gotten more energetic ever since Austria and Hungary showed up. Nonno talked and talked without getting tired by the looks of it. Italy seemed to be so at ease. No things he should have done and no other struggles. The most unusual, but also wonderful, thing to hear and witness was a laughing Austria and a Romano with no grumpy expressions.

Not a single crumb were uneaten after they finished eating the Christmas dinner. Nonno got up on his feet without help from his grandsons or his cane.

"Thank you two for such a wonderful meal. How about singing carols and make this Christmas remarkable?" Nonno said with a voice filled with enthusiasm.

"Great idea, I can play the guitar!" Antonio said.

Austria dug in his pocket.

"And I can play this" He said.

Out of his pocket he brought out a harmonica.

"Roderich, is that...?" Hungary asked as she pointed at the harmonica.

"Ja, it is. The harmonica you gave me all those centuries ago. I never let go of it, I could never let go of a beloved Christmas present" Austria put the instrument to his lips and played a beautiful tune.

Austria and Antonio played Christmas carols together. Songs played by a guitar and a harmonica made the carols sound much more joyful. Nonno had his arms around Italy and Romano as they sang along. This time it was not his grandsons who held him to keep him up, nonno was the one who held the two as the loving grandfather he was. Italy stopped singing and looked at Hungary.

"What do you say, Lady Hungary? Is this a nice Christmas for you?"

Hungary turned her look slowly to Italy, her look of ecstasy.

"This is the best Christmas I could have ever asked for"

"Even in our dilapidated home?"

"I do not care if you home were in ruins, the mood is amazing and I got received my Christmas gift, I got _him_ back. I got my husband back!"

Everybody cheered and clapped loudly when Austria and Antonio finished playing carols. The musicans bowed in a gesture of thank you. Hungary went towards Austria and hugged him tightly.

"Look above you!" Antonio said and pointed at the roof.

Austria and Hungary looked up. Above them hung...a broccoli? Hungary chuckled and Austria looked confused. They both did understand it was supposed to be a mistletoe, a replacement mistletoe that is. Hungary leaned closer to Austria as she closed her eyes. Austria followed suit and they gave each other a sweet kiss. A true romantic Christmas kiss.

"This is the best Christmas I have ever had, thank you for giving me my darling back" Hungary said and snuggled Austria.

"Merry Christmas, liebe" Austria kissed Hungary on her forehead.

"

The others opened up presents and talked to each other and Austria looked out the window to view the stars. He saw a star shining the brightest with three smaller stars underneath it. The three stars were shining more than the rest of the other stars in the sapphire night sky. Not more than the star above them but they certainly stood out from all the other stars. Austria somehow felt a connection between him and the stars, but he was not sure why. They seemed so familiar as they at the same time did not. He got the feeling to thank the great star and the three underneath it for bringing happiness back to him and all the ones he knew.

 **The end**

"

 **I am sorry it took so long to finish the last chapter! As the Christmas and the New Year finish, the regular everyday life suck me back in to tiredness and busyness. Even though it is to late: Merry Christmas and a Happy 2016!**


End file.
